Evaluation of oxidative stress in cattle with subclinical ketosis and clinical endometritis

Abstract

Today, the most important factor in the occurrence of metabolic and reproductive diseases in dairy cattle is the disturbance of natural process in body’s cellular-molecular events that occur after increasing of oxidants and the formation of oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of a significant association between the serum concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC), as oxidative stress indexes, with the incidence of subclinical ketosis and clinical endometritis in dairy cows. For this purpose, 101 Holstein dairy cows were divided into 4 groups (healthy, subclinical ketosis, clinical endometritis, and both of them subclinical ketosis-clinical endometritis), and serum levels of MDA and TAC were measured in one month before delivery. The lowest serum concentration of TAC and the highest plasma MDA levels were observed in cows with both of diseases, while control group (healthy cows) had the highest serum concentration of TAC and lowest MDA levels (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference in serum concentrations of TAC and MDA between clinical endometritis and subclinical ketosis groups (p>0.05). The results of this study demonstrated a significant correlation between serum concentrations MDA and TAC with the incidence of clinical endometritis and prevalence of ketosis-endometritis in dairy cows (P≤0.05). Conflict of interest: None declared.Keywords: Malondialdehyde, Total Antioxidant Capacity, Clinical Endometritis, Subclinical Ketosis.